Clinical Effectiveness of Urinary Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Related Protein (hCGRP) Quantification for Diagnosis of Ectopic Pregnancy

We detected pregnancy related new molecule, human chorionic gonadotropin related protein (hCGRP) in the urine of a pregnant women by using a monoclonal antibody against the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This study examined the effectiveness of urinary hCGRP quantification in diagnosing ectopic pregnancy. This study included 40 normal pregnant women and 25 patients with ectopic pregnancy. Patients' serum and urinary intact whole hCG (i-hCG) and hCGRP concentrations were measured using sandwich ELISA and the ratio of hCGRP to i-hCG was calculated. Statistical analysis was performed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) 10.0. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the cut-off value to discriminate ectopic pregnancies from normal intrauterine pregnancies. Urinary hCGRP and hCGRP/i-hCG ratio in ectopic pregnancy group (14 +/- 6.6 ng/mL, 4.6 +/- 1.9%, respectively) were significantly lower than those of normal pregnancy group (149 +/- 10.2 ng/mL, 29.7 +/- 1.9%, respectively; p<0.001). Based on ROC curve analysis, a cut-off point of urinary hCGRP/i-hCG ratio <16.2% discriminated between ectopic pregnancy and normal pregnancy with a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 92.0%, 90.0%, 32.6%, and 99.5%, respectively. Urinary hCGRP/i-hCG ratio measurement may be effective in diagnosing ectopic pregnancy.

Production and Characterization of Murine Monoclonal Antibodies ( MAbs ) which Specifically Recognize B-Subunit of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin ( HCG ) / 대한면역학회지

We have constructed several panels of MAbs which specifically recognize B-subunit of HCG (BHCG). Splenocytes from Balb/c mice immunized with B-subunit of HCG were fused with SP2/o-Ag14 myeloma cells by PEG method. Fifteen different hybridorna clones (individually named as mG10.127, mG10.61, mG9.5, mG9.18, rnG9.20, mG6.3, mG6.36, mG6.8, mG7.31, mG7.79, mG9.11, mG9.51.6, mG9.51.12, mH4.17, and mH4.4) were obtained by indirect ELISA screening and three to five successive cloning procedures. The distinct features of these MAbs were determined by specificity, western blot, isotyping, and isoelectrofocusing. All of the MAbs except mG9.20 and mG6.8 specifically bind to BHCG without cross- reaction with B-subunit of LH (BLH). In western blot analysis, all of the MAbs bind to non-denatured form of BHCG suggesting that the MAbs recognize conformation-dependent epitope of BHCG. This new panels of MAbs to BHCG should be useful for developing diagnostic reagent such as pregnancy, choriocarcinoma, Down's syndrome as well as for the fine quantitation of serum or urinary HCG.